Thanks for Thanksgiving Giveaway (brought to you by SpringHill Suites)!

Marriott has given me a $300 gift card to give to a reader in conjunction with the relaunch of SpringHill Suites properties and their Video Memory Challenge. Given that it’s the holidays, it seems like there’s no better time for this.

Post something regarding the Video Memory Challenge in the comments section below and be sure to include your valid email address (which only I can see) so that I can contact you if you win. You can post something you liked, something that surprised you, something that made you laugh, the score you received (copied and pasted off the results page), etc.

Basic guidelines:

Using a random number generator I’ll choose one of the comments as the winner

You can post as often as you’d like, including posting the score you received in the Video Memory Challenge (although if you do that I expect you to take the quiz each time you enter and post your score… yeah, honor system)

Only comments posted before midnight EST on Sunday, November 29 will be considered

The winner will be notified via email on Monday, November 30 and the winner’s name (as displayed on the blog) will be posted

The winner can expect to receive the gift card the week of December 21, 2009

This is a giveaway, so let’s approach this with holiday spirit. I plan on giving this card away fairly, so please let’s not get technical about rules, comments, etc. Just have fun.

Many thanks to Marriott for this generous offer! I’ve gotta say I’m pretty impressed by the new SpringHill Suites properties, if that’s how they’ll actually all look.

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving and many thanks to all those that continue to read the blog. Hope your Thanksgiving is filled with bumps, upgrades (air and hotel), and time with family and friends!

Much to reader (or maybe former reader, although I really hope s/he’s still reading) MoiMoi’s chagrin (if you have no clue what I’m talking about, see the conversation that transpired here), I’m a fan of chain hotels. More specifically,…

Check out this interview with Jason Reitman, director of “Up in the Air.” It’s very interesting to hear his perspective on things, and especially how we “chase” material things that ultimately don’t matter. To a certain…

More from One Mile at a Time

It's no secret that some countries make it especially lucrative to invest by offering fast tracks to citizenship either through buying property or living in the country for a minimal amount of time. One of the countries that consistently ranks near the…

Earlier in the month IHG's CEO said that the company was looking at acquiring a small, asset light luxury hotel brand so that they could increase their footprint in the luxury segment, where they're currently quite weak. There were rumors that they were…

The major hotel loyalty programs often make adjustments to their hotel categories, sometimes on an annual basis. With these changes they're not adjusting the number of points required for a stay at a particular category of hotel, but rather are changing…

I imagine this is probably exceedingly obvious to Marriott loyalists, but for those of us who are just learning our way around Marriott Rewards, I figure this is worth a post. Historically I've been a Starwood loyalist, though with Marriott's takeover…

Yesterday I wrote about the increased sign-up bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express. The card is offering a sign-up bonus of 35,000 Starpoints after spending $7,000 within three months, which is the best sign-up…

As some of you may remember, at the beginning of the year a few companies found themselves in hot water for "disrespecting Chinese sovereignty." One of the companies that was in trouble was Marriott. In a Mandarin language questionnaire that they sent…

About luckyBen Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector.
He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to fund his first class experiences.
He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news, here at One Mile At A Time.

90%. Do all the rooms come with a dancing girl? If so, I may just switch my loyalty back to Marriott!! Seriously, though, that was a nice, modern, sleek room. Very nice, although I can’t imagine all springhill suites are like that.

Strangely, I’m staying at SpringHill Ashburn in just over a week. I was at the SpringHill near Dulles in October; it was not particularly memorable. Let’s see if this one is even half as nice as the one in the video.

Did so bad I won’t post my score (obviously old age has set in). Never stayed at a SpringHill Suites, but certainly ready to give them a try. Have a late night flight into MCO in Feb. Sound like a good time to make a visit.

70% ouch! Reminds me of how eye-witnesses can be more unreliable than we think! 😀 I can’t believe I missed the five pillows- I was sure it was a trick question! Oddly fun to do- good for the old in need of a vacation brain! 😀

80% on 1st shot-i hope going 4 100% doesn’t become as addictive as scrounging 4 pts/miles. The kid @ the pool looks as if he wants 2 know if he’s getting paid 4 this as he stands there looking as if he’s n a differnt world (hey, I’m just playing my part n this video-now where’s my $300 gift card b/c playing Gary Coleman isn’t easy).

The girl from the pool/the girl w/ the curly hair receiving the drink from the AA FA (he was wearing an AA tie-right) would have been a better fit as the “dancing woman.” By the way, does the dancing woman come w/ the gift card. I think I “memorized” that n the 2 min. T&C’s.

“You can post as often as you’d like, including posting the score you received in the Video Memory Challenge (although if you do that I expect you to take the quiz each time you enter and post your score… yeah, honor system)”

We laugh all the time about poorly phrased terms & conditions. Do you really want to set up a giveaway where you’ll randomly select a comment, and also where you encourage people to post as many comments as they would like?

(Simple procedure to work around comment stuffing if you wish to revise your terms & conditions halfway thru the promotion…. You use a random number generator and look at that comment. Only if that comment is the first comment from somebody does that win. Otherwise [i.e., if the comment was a second or later comment from that person], you pick another random number. Repeat until you pick a comment which is that author’s first comment.)

Oh, and I did stay at a SpringHill Suites once, a little over a year ago. In Lawton, Oklahoma of all places. I had quite forgotten about it, but the video immediately reminded me of the place — the decor in the lobby looks very similar. Good work on the branding, Marriott.

I just got done staying at a Springhill Suites and I was not that impressed:

The bed was hard as a rock with uncomfortable pillows.
The window in the bedroom would not stay shut and they did nothing to fix it.
There was no dancing girl in my room.
There were no hot models in the pool or having drinks in the lobby.

0% … my browser didn’t work. But I absolutely love the new Springhill Suites! I’ve stayed at them numerous times, and they’re very chic. Just like the video shows. Plus, the beds ar the MOST comfortable hotel beds I’ve slept in. Ever.

Just thought it was weird that there was an Asian woman who was dancing then a man just comes into her room. He acts nonchalant and acts as if he doesn’t know the woman dancing! The kid with the scuba mask was just weird and creepy!

Came back to check on what’s the expected value from participating in this. Another ambiguity — “midnight” is vague. If midnight Sunday November 29 refers to November 29 00:00:00 (which is less ambiguous) or even clearer, November 29 00:00:01, then the contest is over, and the expected value of participating is just slightly over $3.00. Not bad. 🙂

Recent Trip Reports

In the last installment I reviewed the Singapore Airlines first class lounge that I had access to, and in this installment I wanted to look at the Singapore Airlines business class lounge, which can be accessed by Star Alliance business class and Star…

In the last installment I mentioned how I ended up using the Air New Zealand Lounge Sydney Airport first. That's because the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge doesn't correctly publish their opening times -- the Singapore Airlines website suggests…

I spent just one night in Sydney, and decided to head to the airport really early the next morning, even though my flight was just at 12:15PM. That's because I wanted to review the Star Alliance lounges at the airport, and I always feel more comfortable…

Having flown Singapore's previous generation business class seat, I couldn't wait to see how their brand new business class seat compared. I boarded through the forward door of the upper deck, where I was immediately greeted by several crew members,…

Recent Posts

It's no secret that some countries make it especially lucrative to invest by offering fast tracks to citizenship either through buying property or living in the country for a minimal amount of time. One of the countries that consistently ranks near the…

In the last installment I reviewed the Singapore Airlines first class lounge that I had access to, and in this installment I wanted to look at the Singapore Airlines business class lounge, which can be accessed by Star Alliance business class and Star…

It's pretty normal for airlines to try to differentiate their onboard product, even if it's in economy. For example, earlier today I wrote about how Air France's new ad campaign focuses on how they offer free food, entertainment, and champagne in economy.…

I’m a points geek. There are few things that make me prouder than finally ticketing an exciting and complex award itinerary. After the initial excitement wears off, the next thing I always do is calculate the redemption value. Anything above 5 cents…

Meet The Team

One Mile at a Time is owned by PointsPros, Inc. This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.